Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 31, 1991 TAG: 9104010179
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: D-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: HSIN-MIN TONG
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Our non-competitiveness has a great deal to do with our legal environment, educational system, technological development, and product quality:
Since the late 19th century, Congress has passed many laws, and the regulatory agencies have adopted increasingly complex regulations, to curb the "evils of business" - monopolies, unsafe products, deceptions, etc. The government's emphasis has been on prohibiting or controlling undesirable business practices, rather than planning and orchestrating national economic success.
Results from several recent educational studies strongly suggest that the United States has serious educational problems in grades K through 12. Two major sources of our educational problems are the family and the school.
The family role in education is declining because in most families today, both parents have outside jobs. They therefore do not have enough time to teach their children. The high U.S. divorce rate and the large number of single-parent families have made the situation even worse.
In several technological fields - such as large computers, large aircraft, instant photography, industrial chemicals, and space exploration - the United States still maintains a lead. However, some foreign countries are catching up quickly.
Several U.S. companies, eager for a quick profit but ignorant of long-term foreign competitive dangers, have myopically sold or licensed extremely important technologies to foreign companies. And though the United States often is first in developing new basic technologies, foreign countries frequently are first in creating new products using these new technologies.
Many experts think poor product-quality is the No. 1 cause of the America's economic-competitiveness problem. The automobile industry is a case in point.
Foreign-made vehicles generally receive much better ratings than American-made ones in the annual auto issue of Consumer Reports. The reality of the marketplace is that product quality is judged on a relative basis. Detroit indeed improved its product quality in recent years, but foreign automakers improved their products as much or more.
The rebuilding of American economic competitiveness in today's rapidly changing world is the responsibility of all Americans - particularly of our leaders in government, business and education, because leaders have the duty to lead.
Speed is a critical factor: If we continue to move slowly and allow the current situation to worsen, foreign firms will capture even larger market shares and control even more production facilities in the United States, and the damage to this country's industrial capability will be irreversible.
Although the issue of U.S. economic competitiveness has gained more and more attention since the late 1970s, Washington decision-makers have not provided the much-needed leadership to help the American economy adjust to the new global economy.
So far, the president has done some cheerleading, but no leading, in solving our basic economic-competitiveness problems. The continued deterioration of our position in the world economy indicates that our old economic philosophy - letting market forces work things out with minimum governmental intervention - must be re-examined.
U.S. businesses should strive for nothing short of 100-percent customer satisfaction. American business executives should continuously research the market to find out customer needs, wants, likes, dislikes and buying intentions. Then they need to develop the right products, produce quality products, increase the efficiency of production and distribution, create attractive brand images, stress real customer benefits in promotion, and charge competitive prices. They must remain ever vigilant, avoid complacency, and never underestimate the ability of their foreign competitors.
Education is a cornerstone of a country's economic competitiveness. To strengthen our economic position in the world, we must raise the level of education of all our people. Educators, parents, political leaders, employers and any other relevant groups must work together to rebuild an educational system second to none on Earth.
As a nation, we need to wake up and use our wisdom, courage and determination to squarely face the challenge. We cannot afford to ignore it, wishing it would somehow disappear.
Then, we need to get ourselves extremely well-organized, and study diligently to understand today's economic realities.
Third, we need to forecast where the world economy is going and to develop sound long-term and short-term national economic plans.
Finally, we need to execute these plans intelligently, and put forth an extra effort beyond what our foreign competitors do. Working together wisely and as a team, we can turn economic challenge into a golden opportunity to upgrade our economic systems significantly, for the benefit of our citizens as well as the preservation of world stability.
by CNB